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TARA
Authors note: Tara was the mother goddess of ancient Druids and a sea goddess in Polynesian mythology. The Hill of Tara was the seat of power for Irish high kings. '' The Known World A place much like our own Earth, '''Tara '''is a round, rocky world with an erratic orbit around a reddish Sun that gives way to strange seasons. A singularity in time and space exists on the planet's southern pole (the continent '''Vaalbara'), called the Rift. This object first appeared long ago during Tara's last great Ice Age, and in the eons since its disgorged energy, the " Rift's Wake", has seeped into the world itself. Much of Tara's fantastic landforms, weather, and life is attributed to the Wake's mutations, and often the laws of physics are bent and warped by closeness to the Rift (for instance physically approaching the singularity causes extreme time dilation, and many ancient fleets are stranded on its event horizon). "Magic" Magic is real and widely believed in on Tara, though many attribute it to faith rather than a natural phenomena like the Rift. It is, however, rare enough for many to doubt its existence, or at least its effectiveness, especially on Ur. It is a poorly understood force in the world, and often flatly denied by men of higher faith and learning. It is likely that the Rift is the source of true magic, and the Wake's ebb and flow is strongly tied to life, death, and prophecy. Magic is often strongly tied to religions. Some of the abilities of magical practitioners include; * Pyromancy: more likely to peddle a living as street entertainer, pyromancers have an intuitive understanding of fire. * Alchemy/Enchantment: a blend of science and mysticism; the Jinn are the most famous of all alchemists, immortal sorcerers who turned their bodies into solid jade and meditate for years in their floating monasteries. The Dwarves worked powerful runes into their crafts, which glow white hot when activated and imbue some kind of protective force (although this could possibly be forgotten technology). * Divination: oracles can perceive time as a kind of sixth sense - past, present, and all futures being one. These visions often put them in psychoactive or epileptic states, and dwelling on them too long can cause dementia. They have historically been exploited by many faiths. * Healing: In Amaranth magical healing (channeled during sex) could do much to speed recovery, and alchemists often concoct potent salves and antidotes. There are innumerable but somewhat dubious folk remedies, often involving bloodletting, prayer, sacrifice, etc. * Glamourers: work subtle illusions, often with the help of potent chemicals or sleight of hand rather than magic. Most practitioners rely on glamour to some extent. Creation Myths There are many legends surrounding the origins of the World itself. Humans have many, often contradictory, beliefs on the matter, comparing the world to a pearl or egg, the shell of a tortoise, or a god's thoughts made substance. Dwarves claim it is a living, perhaps even sentient being, which they call the "Stone". It is, after all, wracked by quakes and eruptions, and even mountains move with the passing of ages. Orcs believe the earth was the womb of their people (the first Orcs were incubated in mud), and that they murdered their own gods long ago because they were too weak. Elves have no such legends; their ancestors, the Siorai, came from another dimension beyond the Rift, when the world was young. The Siorai called Tara a "deathworld", and may have thought of it as an existential hell. Other races - Chiron, Giants, Ogres, Pan - don't really care either way; for them the world simply exists, as it always has, and always will. Landmasses Tara itself has never been completely mapped, and only four landmasses have been explored. *'UR': Ur is a fractured supercontinent, the largest and youngest of Tara's landmasses. The interior is dominated by cold high plains and a spine of towering mountain ranges (the Dragonback Spine) whose watershed divides it into two distinct climate zones (the drier being Outremer). The Oldgrowth '''forest covers Ur's northwest, while iron-rich mountains ring around its southern coasts (insulating it from the '''Rift's Wake). For two millennia it was mostly ruled by the Tiberian Ecumene, but for the last few centuries has endured an apocalyptic dark age called the Fallow Wars, or the Last Endings. ' *'VAALBARA: Now a lost continent, Tara's southern pole was its oldest landmass but never near as large as Ur 'or '''Yavanna. '''Very little is known about it, other than Vaalbara was once by turns the home of the '''Chiron, Pan, '''and '''Siorai. '''The Chiron fled Vaalbara during the '''Old Dawn '(prehistory), sensing the coming of the 'Rift. '''When the Rift did appear it brought the Siorai with it, immortal beings from another dimension. They became the ancestors of the '''Elves, '''and founded the '''Dominion. '''Adventurers who return from Vaalbara speak of fogs covering the land like a death shroud, seas that boil away into steam, and floating mountains. Strange lights and stranger stars play in its skies, and the leaves of its forests shift from black to white. Warm rain falls upward, compasses lose their bearings, and the wind moans through perplexing geometries in a land with no true surface. *'YAVANNA: Technically Yavanna is a subcontinent attached to Ur, 'but it is rarely thought of as such. Its climate ranges from tropical to superarid, its huge mountains casting long rain shadows. Yavanna was originally inhabited by men and was the cradle of human civilization; it was later conquered by Elves from Vaalbara. These Elves belonged to the '''Summer Court, '''an important faction in the '''Dominion '''ruled by its '''Mab '(an immortal matriarch). 'Mab '"enthralled" Yavanna's princes, seducing them with power and glamor. Today she is "mother" to an entire continent, 100 million children all descended from men and elves. These people live in a strict caste system decided by blood purity; the '"Casteless" '''are pure human, and are a minor underclass. Yavanna's '''Suitors '(princes) constantly vie for '''Mab's '''favor; some commission great works, building palaces or carving her likeness into mountainsides. More often than not they go to war over her affections, and Yavanna is in a constant state of upheaval. The '''Tiberian Ecumene '''went to great lengths to secure trade with Yavanna, eventually trying to conquer it. This fruitless invasion led to the '''First War of Accession. * YS: '''Ys is a large, forbidding island caught in a vicious cycle of fire and rampant growth. All manner of nasty wildlife and diseases can be found in its jungles, and tropical storms often batter its coasts. It was once a penal colony where the Tiberians dumped their worst criminals. When the empire's borders shrank Ys was all but forgotten, and centuries of neglect brought mutiny and barbarism. The colonists bred with the island's natives, dark men whose teak skins were covered in strange, animal-like patterns. Today they are known as '''Mer, seafarers whose driftwood villages hug the coasts and cliffs, and who raid as far as Yavanna and the Nesoi Isles. Author's note: Vaalbara is the name of Earth's first theorized supercontinent, having formed 3600 million years ago. Ur was a continent that formed 3000 million years ago in the Archean era, and is Earth's second oldest landmass. Ys is a mythical city that was built on the coast of Brittany and later swallowed by the sea. Yavanna was an Ainu or goddess in Tolkien's Silmarillion, in charge of the growth of all fruits and living things. Races There is a bewildering variety of life and culture, and even most humanoid races are completely independent of a common "tree". Siorai (Elves), Humans, Korrigan (Dwarves/Gnomes), Chiron (Centaurs),' Pan (Fauns)', Gnasha (Ogres), Lith (Giants), and Huron (Dryads) have little relation to one another. Author's Note: Most races do not think of themselves as "Elves" or "Dwarves", etc. These are human names. The name Siorai means "Endless" or "Eternal" in Gaelic; Korrigan are dwarf-like spirits in Breton mythology; Chiron was a famous Centaur in Greek mythology; Pan was the Greek god of the wild, and a faun; Huron are a native American people, similar to the Iroquois; Lith is the Greek root for "rock" or "stone", which is fitting given that Giant's are a Stone Age people Fauna Flora Landmarks Rivers * Land's End: The Braid, Many Branches, Lost Tongue, Broken Tine River, Cold Streams, Fishgiver, Elkrun, Thawn, Bentbow, Longfalls * Raion: Strongwine, River Twain, Pike River, Longknife, Greenstone, Cider Rush, Whorewash, River Winding, Tumbledown Falls * Canton: Mud River, Stillwater Drift, Snakereed, Butcher's Ford, Turnfoot Creek, The Ebb * Yavanna & Amaranth: Poryal, Thoran, Undhu, Ynd, Lethe, Boro Lakes * Land's End: Bitterroot Spring, Brume Lake, Lone Lake, Medicine Well * Raion: Mirror Pools, Moonwane Lake * Denedell: Anvil Lake * Canton: Fevrewater Lake * High Plains: Drinking Sea, Firewater Lake Seas/Straits * Thirsting Sea * Waking Sea * Starry Sea * Thalassa * Tethys * Baathyal Islands * Vanishing Isles * Windblown Isles * Spice Isles ''' * '''Skeleton Keys * Fairweather Isles * Three Sisters * Broken Teeth Mountain Ranges * Dawnwall Ridge ** Gallow Hills, Mount Mede, Mount Shale, Mount Rancourt, Mount Gnasha, Mount Shorn, Glittergleam Caves, Wheelingsky Summit * Mountains of Mourn ** Widow's Peak Pass, Plainview Summit, Whistling Pass, Brightshade Summit, Long Marcher's Watch, Windcarver's Pass, Wellspring Caves, Grindstone Vault, Mount Stonetooth, Sunstone Vault ** Sightless Breach * Cloudy Crown ** Denedell, Cradlerock Pass, Fareyes Watch, Breaklimb Pass, Knifewinder's Pass, Spearpeak, Overlook Watch, Deepholm Vault, Blue Caves, Mount Snowbeard, Highguard Vault, Rook Ridge Hills, Painted Caves * Dragonback Spine ** Mount Sunder, Mount Ire, Smoke Hills, Shearing Pass, Hewn Pass, Blindmoon Pass, Longleap Summit, Deeproad Mines, The Seam, Mountainroot Vault, Hammersong Vault, Silverlode Vault, Echo Caves, Mistwreath Vale, Flint Hills, Lost Caves * Gnomish communities: Little Delving, Burrows, Underfoot Forests * Land's End: The Oldgrowth, 'The Root of the World' * Denedell: Wildergreen * Raion: Briarwood, Rosewood * Tiberium: Roaring Pines, Deadfall Grove, Axbit Forest * Canton: Driftwood, Bloomshade Grove Ships * Tiberium: Vermillion, Solstice, Demesne, Umbral, Ballad of Tanager, Cadence, Viridian, Cinnabar, Pilgrim, Valliance, Freedom's Quell, Princepine, Godsgrief * Pirate: Hardship, Sin's Wages, Wanderer, Advantage, Thieves All, Forewarned, Illwind, Broadbeam, Wavecutter, Stormbringer, Troubleshared, Distance, Fortunate Son, Vesper, Prowler, Mercy, Black Heart, Dogged ''' * Land's End: '''Knife Ear, Chieftain, Winddancer, Saltkissed, Snowbeard, Crowsfoot, Oakskin, Storm's Eye, Fire Drinker, Blackwing, Icebreaker, Snow Blossom, Alewife, Headtaker * Raion: Houndstooth, Pardoned Man, Swornsword, Sundog, Evening Star, Fair Morn, Artful, Strongheart, Lady's Favor, Beholder, Brevity, Silverfin, Queensman, Fressian Revels, Ballad of Tanager, Montrose, Meadowlark ''' * Yavanna: '''Mother Mab, Lusty Maid, Viper, Paradise, Careworn, Void Queen, Golden Tongue, Far Traveler, Saffron, Cockscrow * Amaranth: All's Pleasure, Late Companion, Nightflier, Sand Beggar, Painted Lady, Nightingale, Man of Leisure, Hyacinth, Jessamine, Spotted Virtue * Seawall: Wakerunner, Adder, Gentine's Fancy, Diviner, Daring Prize, More Fish, Welcomed Friend, Allhands, Fathom, Plainsailor, Luckless, Any Port, Evenkeel, Fishwife, Bounty, Tradewind, Modest Mirth, Goodtide, Mockingbird ' Taverns * The Painted Door, The Giant's Table (Seawall) * Kindled Hall (Mud Harbor) * The Hanged Dog (Gallowton) * Wolf's Den * Maiden's Head * Last Light Inn (Lamplight) * Madder's Inn (Dyer Bay) * Bard's Bed Inn (Songheart) * Inglenook Inn (Inglenook) * The Stagshead (Bendbow, on the Broken Tine) Settlements * Land's End: '''Muster, Hunting Post, Forthill, Kingsbier, Mossring, Stedding, Cairns, Bendbow, Hull, Wolftrap, Whittler ' * Tiberium: '''Quell, Numitor, Loslantine, Pallas, Oldquarter * Raion: Dyer Bay, Alleytown, Monastir, Belltoll, Bainbridge, Fairfields, Donebattle, Gristmill, Pleasance, Barding, Portage, Almshrine, Songheart, Hoardings, Stonewalls, Priest Hole, Foxden, Hanging Tree * Canton: Mud Harbor, Gallowton, Madder, Harrowrein, Farmile, Plainview, Burnover, Downbatten, Standfast, Skillboro, Ashbury, Pickton, Last Reap, Wargrave * Denedell: Oldcoals, Bellows, Coldforge * Amaranth: Amaranth * Outremer: Sandstone, ''' * Yavanna: * Seawall: '''Seawall, Gentine, Lamplight * Sunderegarde Troika ' Human Civilizations 'The Tiberian Ecumene The Painted Kingdoms of Land's End Amaranth ' 'Denedell Outremer ' 'Freesia Canton Raion Culture Raion is famed for its extravagance. In the capitol of Monastir all citizens must wear decorative masks in public (a bare face is considered gauche); these masks denote their station, profession, and heritage. There is a penchant for extreme high fashion among the nobility, and both men and women wear elaborate wigs and cosmetics. The capitol is famous for its many balls, galas, fetes, and feasts, which serve to keep the underclass preoccupied. Society Class and social politics create strong tensions between the nobility and the underclass; there is a huge divide, and nobles have virtually unlimited rights. Indentured servitude is common; servants, bodyguards, and warriors are often born into the service of noble families, and peasants are treated like chattel. Land is owned exclusively by the aristocracy; traditionally, power is supposed to flow from the Divine King, but in reality he is little more than a figurehead; real power is held by robber barons, and the idea that Raion is a nation is just an airy concept. Church and state are one; the King is considered divine (at least by the common folk), and is the symbolic head of the Chantry. Military The strong arm of the Chantry is the Templar Brotherhood, an order of holy knights raised from birth to be warriors. Their training is legendarily harsh, instilling in them fierce discipline and a code of honor that takes precedence over their own lives. Templars spend much of their lives in fortress monasteries, splitting their time between meditation, prayer, and relentless training. Although they pledge their lives to the King they unwittingly function as his jailors. Although they are supposed to lead lives of earthly denial they are permitted the same unlimited rights over the peasantry enjoyed by other nobles. Politics Monastir is often compared to a "gilded cage", the country's ruler being under lifelong house arrest. In reality Raion is not a true nation - it is divided by deadly court intrigues and power struggles between robber Fiefs, who claim pretensions of fealty to the Divine King. The most notable of these Fiefs are Ravellin and Somer. Ravellin Ducdom of Ravellin is a bleak and dreary kingdom-by-the-sea, carved out by rogue Legionnaires. Over the centuries it has been heavily fortified. It has strong warrior and seafaring traditions, but is poor in many respects. It has often humiliated Somer in battle, breaking its levies in long, fruitless sieges. Somer Somer is, in many ways, Ravellin’s opposite rival; warm, rich, five times the size of its neighbor and ten times as populous. It’s ruling dynasty are descended from wool merchants turned robber barons and claim pretensions of fealty to the Sangroi in Monastir, but in reality hold them at ransom. All manner of earthly delights can be found in Somer; wines, fruits, flowers, good horses, etc. Besides sheer numbers the one advantage Somer has over Ravellin is that it can afford to supply its troops much longer with its ample harvests . Monastir . It grew from a miserable Tiberian outpost in a swamp into a magnificent city of white steeples, broad streets, and proud masonry (the swamp was drained; much of the city is falling into disrepair due to the enormous expense of maintaining it). It is famous for its masqued fetes and balls. Seawall ''' (Netherlands + drowning Venice; narrow, steeple-like houses, city-state, vast seawall holds an entire bay at bay, huge lighthouse, can mass produce entire fleets, sprawling undercity '''Stone Table (Plains Indians + Silk Road Arabs, live on a giant mesa) Troika/Ostmark (Troika = Moscow, Sunderegarde = Prague; Russian Cossacks + Polish Hussars + Siberians, entire population migrates between seasonal tent cities - which were were built near the grazing lands of horses - over a frozen steppe) Nesoi Isles The Shield Marches (Welsh marches + Romanized South Britain) Hue ' Lying south and east of Yavanna, Hue is known mostly by its trade. Spidersilks, exotic animals, and some of the finest dyes in the world come from Hue, but little else is properly known about it. Sailors speak of a forbidding land of mountains, jungles, and rivers stained by dye production. Merchants are only permitted on barges the size of floating cities. Although the country is quite sophisticated its people are very xenophobic.Interestingly peasants in Hue are admired for working the land while merchants are despised as exiles who openly court foreigners. '''Suitor-Princes of Yavanna ' (India; colorful, epicurean, brutal caste society based on Elf heritage, the best and worst of everything, a chiaroscuro of steaming jungle and baking desert and snow-capped mountains, people are descended from humans and Elves, cowtow to the Summer Court) '''Ys ' '(Maori + Vikings) Siorai/Elves Korrigan/Dwarves Pan/FaunsCategory:FantasyCategory:Fantasy WorldCategory:Fantasy WorldbuildingCategory:Tara